Wattamolla, also known as Wattamolla Beach, is a cove, lagoon, and beach on the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

coast south of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, within the

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney. The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the local ...

History

Wattamolla is the local Aboriginal name of the area, meaning "place near running water". That name was recorded as Watta-Mowlee by

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

, but is today spelt Wattamolla. Matthew Flinders,

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

and a boy, William Martin had been exploring the south-coast from Port Jackson as far as

Lake Illawarra Lake Illawarra ( Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, white clay mountain), is an ope ...

, in a small boat named ''Tom Thumb''. Returning on the evening of 29 March 1796, a southerly gale forced them to seek shelter. Flinders, "steering with an oar", thought the dark outline of cliffs ended and believed he saw breakers, so he turned the boat towards shore. Catching a large wave, they "shot across a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...

" and in moments were in the calm sheltered water of the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

, which in relief they named Providential Cove. On 15 May 1797, three members of the crew of the

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney locatio ...

were spotted by a fisherman on Wattamolla Beach, having trekked from the Ninety Mile Beach Victoria on route to Sydney, to seek help rescuing their crew. The Headland Perversely recorded as "Providential Head" was renamed "Martin Head"- And "Martin Point" was then renamed "Providential Point".

Gallery

File:Wattamolla panorama.jpg , Panorama of Wattamolla. Click to enlarge. File:Wattamolla - panoramio (4).jpg, Waterfall File:WattamollaMK.JPG File:Wattamolla - panoramio.jpg, Lagoon with beach in background. File:Wattamolla - panoramio (5).jpg File:Wattamolla - panoramio (1).jpg, Closeup of lagoon File:Wattamolla M.K.JPG, The beach

References

External links

Historical images
of Wattamolla on

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...

External links

Wattamolla Beach Guide
{{Beaches of New South Wales Bays of New South Wales Beaches of New South Wales Lagoons of Australia Sutherland Shire

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links

External links